Learn whether your heat protectant spray will stand up to hot styling tools

Do you really need to spray on a heat protectant before styling your hair? After all, it’s just one more step you’re adding to your haircare routine, one more product to buy, and one more chemical you’re exposing yourself to.

But if you’re looking to downsize on beauty products or take a more “natural” approach to your haircare, skipping heat protectant spray may not be the best way to go.

Here’s the lowdown on heat protectant spray, including their purpose, typical ingredients, and whether they will fully protect your hair from damaging hot styling tools.

What is Heat Protectant Spray?

Heat protectant spray is designed to act as a moisturizing barrier between hot styling tools – which typically range between 300-450˚F – and your hair. Just as you wouldn’t lay out in the sun without protecting your skin from those rays, hair, like skin, needs that invisible layer of protection to deflect some of the damage.

Think of heat protectant as spray-on armor and your hair dryer as a fire-breathing dragon. Your hair is going to need a shield or it’ll burn, which is exactly what the heat protectant spray aims to do, by minimizing the damage that occurs.

Yes, technically, heat protectant isn’t a requirement to dry your hair. After all, generations of women styled their hair sans spray-on coating and didn’t go bald from the heat. However, with all the advances in beauty products, you’d be hard pressed to answer, why wouldn’t you use heat protectant spray? It takes just a second to spray on, it's cheap (typically under $20), and doesn’t take up much room in your beauty arsenal.

Besides protecting your hair from the blow dryer’s damaging hot blast, heat protectant spray can also help lock-in moisture. That means if you use heat protectant spray prior to styling, your hair will be bouncier and smoother than if you’d gone without.

Heat Protectant Spray Ingredients

With all its benefits and short application time, heat protectant spray is a cheap and easy addition to your beauty routine.

But what exactly is in the stuff? And why can’t you just use a natural oil instead of a chemical protectant?

Heat protectant sprays consist of lightweight, water-based silicones, such as dimethicone copolyol, stearoxy dimethicone and behenoxy dimethicone, which are formulated to form an immediate, protective layer around your hair shaft.

Natural oils, like coconut oil, are denser, and their heavy weight coupled against scalding hot styling tools will cause your hair to sizzle.

If you do opt for the natural route, look for lightweight oils such as grapeseed and Argan oil, which won’t weigh your hair down or cause smoke from heat styling tools.

Benefits of Heat Protectant Spray

Besides its primary benefit of acting as a protective layer between your hair and styling tool, heat protectant spray also offers some additional benefits.

For instance, while most heat protectant spray is designed to be used on wet hair, some formulas are actually made for use on dry hair. That means, if you’re not a daily shampooer, the heat protectant spray will work between washings and provide your hair with a quick blast of moisture, resulting in reduced split ends and frizzing.

And if all that still isn’t enough to convince you, some heat protectant sprays can reduce your drying time — great for those in a race against time in the morning. These types of sprays work by utilizing ingredients such as trisiloxane and isododecane, which are designed to help your hair dry faster while still retaining its moisture. So not only is your overall styling time reduced, you’re also reducing the length of time your hair is blasted with a blow dryer, which further minimizes the damage your hair sustains from heat styling.

Will Heat Protectant Spray Fully Protect My Hair from Damage?

The short answer is, no, nothing will fully protect your hair from heat styling damage.

However, heat protectant sprays are essentially lightweight conditioners, and the vitamins and fatty acids in these sprays provide your parched hair with a much-needed drink of moisture. And, since heat protectant sprays are designed to minimize damage, the hit your hair takes won’t be nearly as severe as had you gone it alone.

Resources — Allure, Elle, Business Insider

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